FLOWERING SHRUBS 



the children belonging to the party was a little girl about 

 seven years of age, a bright, engaging child. By some 

 accident this little one got separated from her family among 

 the bushes, and they, supposing that she had gone forward 

 with some of their near neighbors and friends, started for 

 home, feeling no uneasiness until it was discovered that little 

 Jane was not among the returned party, and that no trace 

 of her could be found. Then came the stunning conviction 

 that the child was lost left alone to wander over that path- 

 less wilderness in darkness and solitude, perhaps to fall an 

 unresisting prey to the bear or the wolf, both of which 

 animals at that distant period roamed the hills and ravines 

 of those plains in numbers, unchecked by the rifle of the 

 sportsman or the gun of the Indian hunter. 



A few cleared spots there were, but these were miles apart, 

 and it was not likely that the timid child would find her way 

 to any of the distant shanties, so that no reasonable hope of 

 the child finding shelter for the night could be entertained. 

 Under so sad a loss the distress of the bereaved parents may 

 easily be imagined. Their agonizing suspense, their hopes 

 and their fears, found a ready response in every kind and 

 feeling heart. 



No sooner was it known that a young child was lost than 

 hundreds of persons interested themselves in the discovery 

 and restoration of little Jane Ayre. The people came from 

 their farms; they poured out from towns and villages, from 

 the borders of the forest; wherever the tale was told came 

 men in waggons, on horseback and on foot, to scour the 

 plains in every direction. The Indians, under their Chief, 

 Pondash, came under promise of a liberal reward if they 

 found the child. Day after day passed without tidings of 

 the lost one. As night came on each party returned only to 



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